Intervention of approximately 960 m2 carried out on the main façade of one of the venues of the «Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture» in the city of Shen Zhen. We propose a superposition of ideograms in which the words “tradition” and “development” are mixed. Betting on the process, we first paint a complete word, on which we then superimpose the second, generating a game of transparencies that invites the spectator to stop and decipher its meaning.

CONTEXT

The Biennale is centred on Nantou, one of the city's old walled towns, now surrounded by the unbridled urban development of modern-day China. Life in Nantou takes place on its pedestrian streets, where small shops and tiny restaurants generate a busy flow of pedestrians. This year's Biennale opted to be located in an already inhabited environment, with the aim of highlighting the origin of present-day Shenzhen as well as introducing stimuli outside the urban reality of Nantou and offering new perspectives for the future. Numerous artistic and architectural interventions were carried out in the area, thus playing with the high contrast between the urban landscape of the town and the contemporary visual language.

BALANCE

By the 1890s, when modernity was integrated into Chinese thought, it became clear that no other foreign model would be adequate for their own situation, that many models would be tried but none would be suitable, and that the creative Chinese people would have to find, in their own way, their own salvation. Since they had a unique past, they would have their own unique future. (John King Fairbanks. China: A New History).

It was here, in China, on the banks of the fertile Yellow River, that the first civilizations in history were born. On the other hand, today China is the country with the greatest economic growth and one of the most developed in the world. These two factors are decisive in the identity of the Chinese people, and their antagonistic natures require balance to keep it alive. Chinese philosophical thought considers harmony as a state of equilibrium developed by man and achieved through correct and adequate relationships. Breaking this cosmic order would bring about serious alterations. It is from this equilibrium, from the harmony between tradition and development, that the creative Chinese people should build the future, their own and unique future that maintains the cosmic order.

DESIGN AND PROCESS

We propose a performance piece developed in two phases, so its appearance changed as it was executed.

• PHASE 1: Preparation (DEVELOPMENT): Representing the present. Development meets that unique past. Ancient traditions and modern experiments blend dynamically.
• PHASE 2: Preparation (TRADITION): Representing all those elements such as mythology, philosophy, art or medicine, which support and so strongly mark the identity of China.
• FINAL RESULT: HARMONY: Representing the future. It is at this point where tradition and development meet, where there is balance. It is from there that the future must be built.